The voice of radio drama in Italy. The case of the magazine «Repertorio»

Abstract

On 20th April 1949, «Repertorio» began its publications. The magazine, edited by Umberto Colombini, not only published the texts of radio dramas broadcast by Rai, but also featured a wealth of critical essays questioning the artistic and expressive potential of the new mass medium. Among the protagonists of the Rai radio season examined were names that were already famous, such as Diego Fabbri, or that were to become so shortly afterwards, such as Alberto Perrini, the young winner of the Stresa Prize for radio playwrights, sponsored by «Repertorio». Among the columns was an enquiry, Will television cancel radio theatre?, in which the answers of various ‘insiders’ are recorded. A list of the scripts of works broadcast on the radio published by the periodical is presented in the Appendix.